Second Time Love
by TivaDiNozzo
Summary: What if things had been completely different and they had discovered that Ziva was in danger earlier and went to her rescue. As well as Tony finding out about Tali? Set around the events of season 13 but will be AU. Tiva story of course!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is our first story Tiva wise at least that we have written and we hope that you enjoy it! After having a few season 13 ones running around our heads we decided on doing this one! Even though it's based around the events of the season end we decided to set the events as though they'd discovered the connection to Ziva sooner and she was kept safe! After the events of the remainder of the season this story will be going AU. But of course before we get to there we'll be staying in Israel for Tony and Ziva's confrontation over Tali! D &M.**

 ** _Second Time Love_**

 ** _Chapter 1._**

 **A** s Leon Vance came out of his office to look over the railing it was to see an empty bullpen. That was except for one Tony DiNozzo. So he came down the stairs and stood in front of Tony's desk. It then took Tony a few minutes to realize that the director was there. As he finally saw him there he said "Oh, hi director."

To which Vance asked "What are you still doing here? I thought that Gibbs had sent you home?"

Tony answered "He did. But I just needed to check a couple of things out to make sure that we hadn't missed anything."

Taking his explanation of things as he went to walk away Vance replied "Ok. Just make sure that you're not going to be here all night."

"I won't be sir."

Just as Vance is about to say "Goodnight." He notices a look of concern and worry cross Tony's face. So he pauses for a moment and then says "What is it DiNozzo?"

To which Tony answers "I think that Ziva may be in danger. That Trent Kort could be behind all of this mess and that he's setting up Jacob Scott."

"How?"

Tony answers "I did some digging with Jacob telling us about some files that would prove his innocence in all of this. As far as I can tell there's no copies left in our archives. And obviously I can't dig too much in the CIA files. But the other name that has come up over having copies is one Eli David. I know that we haven't got any proof yet about Kort's involvement. But if he is and he's got to know about Eli. What if... What if he thinks that Ziva has now inherited them or that she may have even seen them. He could now be targeting her."

As Vance then curses under his breath he heads to Gibbs desk to use the phone. Once he finishes with that call he then says to Tony "A team will be available within the hour along with a plane. Go and get her into protective custody. I'll get everyone else called in and will also let the director know." As Tony gets up and grabs both his kit and go bags. When he comes back up again Vance says "Look after yourself and keep everyone safe." After a pause he then adds "Look DiNozzo I know that we haven't exactly seen eye to eye over the years. And I also know that the last year or so hasn't been that great for you. Once all of this is all over if you want to transfer somewhere else or move up into a team lead role I do have a couple of openings available. All you need to do is just say the word."

As Tony goes over to him they shake hands as he says "Thank you sir." Tony then heads off, but not before stopping at his desk and opening the top drawer to get Ziva's necklace out of it.

During the journey to Israel Tony finds himself deep in thought wondering what had been happening in Ziva's life during the last couple of years since he had left her on the tarmac. In a way he was praying that she'd been happy in whatever she had done. Although he did also hope that she hadn't found someone new or hadn't got married. As he had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to cope or handle seeing her with someone else. Especially with the way the last year had been for him and he knew that if there was a chance for them. And with what Vance had said to him just before he left. He knew in his heart that he could either take a new job as an agent or could quite happily give up the badge for her now. As they started to get closer to their destination he also started to feel a bit nervous. Partly because of not knowing if the director had managed to get in touch with Orli yet. Because he knew that if Vance hadn't managed to then he would be walking into things blind. So it could come as quite a shock if Ziva saw him without any knowledge of him being there.

Upon their arrival as Tony checked in with Vance over their arrival. It was to the news that as yet he hadn't managed to get hold of Orli. But he had got confirmation that she and Ziva were supposed to be having coffee together. So because of that Vance would keep on trying to get hold of her.

In the end Tony decided that he would play a hunch. So he got Callum another member of the team to get them a car. Because of the place that he was going to check out was on a square if he remained parked on the road side. If they were there. Then if by any chance Ziva did get away from them. Then they still may get the chance to follow her. The hunch does end up paying off and he finds them. He then manages to get into a place where he's hidden but can still see them. He is also in for a surprise though. Because as he watches she and Orli talking he notices that there's also a little girl with them. Who he knows is unmistakably Ziva's daughter. As feelings of jealousy start to creep in for whoever Ziva had slept with. He all of a sudden manages to get a closer look at the little girl, when the person that was blocking his view moves out of the way. Plus the little girl manages to also look directly in his direction and he gets a shiver down his spine with the look he gets from her. After doing some quick calculations in his head. As the realization starts to hit him, his heart starts beating out of his chest. Because he realizes that the little girl could actually be his. The reason why the look haunted him so much. Was because the eyes reminded him so much of his mother. It's then that feelings of anger start to creep up on him. Because of Ziva not getting in touch with him to tell him that she was pregnant or anything about his daughter. For now he knows that he's just got to put it behind him as best as he can. Because now he has to protect both Ziva and their daughter. As there's no way that he's going to let Trent Kort lay a hand or anything else on either of them.

As he watches them all. All of a sudden Orli's phone goes and as she answers it saying "Hello director Vance." He sees the look that Ziva gives her as she then begins to pack everything up, as well as their little girl. When they make a move and say a quiet "Goodbye." To Orli. Tony makes a move to follow them. As Orli ends the call and sees him following. She gives him a nod along with a look that tells him to get them back to Mossad. Just as he gets so very nearly close to them Ziva gets into a cab. He's about to kick himself for not having been closer to them when Callum yells at him to get into the car. So he runs flat out and jumps into the car. He barely has the door closed, when Callum takes off after the cab.

When they end up back at the farmhouse where he had found Ziva a couple of years ago and of course the place where their daughter had been conceived. Just before getting out of the car he told Callum to remain where he was because he needed to do this alone. Once he'd got them out of there he would call to collect them.

As Tony then got out of the car, he took a deep breath and with some trepidation he started to approach the house. When he then heard some voices coming from the olive garden he diverted to go in that direction instead. He then made his way through the trees carefully trying not to get seen. In the end though as he got to a tree nearest to where Ziva was he heard her say "Come out whoever you are as I'm armed." Even though he'd guessed that she probably wasn't armed he still came out from behind the tree with his arms up in surrender. As he came out he also attempted to school his features so that he wouldn't give away what he was truly feeling. To say that Ziva was also looking very surprised at finding Tony standing in front of her was also an understatement! As she then said "What are you doing here Tony?"

He answered "There's no time to explain this properly and I will do later. You need to get packed up, get out of here and come with me."

"Why?"

He then answered with some urgency "You're in danger. Because Trent Kort has been murdering people that were involved in a case from years ago."

"But why does that effect me?"

He answers "As I was searching through the files and things that we got from the person he was setting up for doing the murders. Eli was involved in that case. Kort seems to think that you've inherited his files and things from then. Or that you might have just seen them and know what Kort's involvement was."

She then asks "So where are we going?"

He answers "I'm not sure yet. For now Vance has called Orli and we've got to head to Mossad headquarters to then decide on what the next move is going to be. But we need to move because Kort had disappeared and for all we know he could have got here already."

During the time that they'd been talking their little girl had been running around playing but hadn't come anywhere near them. As Ziva then yells "Tali come on we need to go!" She comes out from behind the trees and as soon as she sees Tony, she stops in her tracks, points at him and yells "Abba!"

Because of the look on Ziva's face. Tony takes a deep breath and says "I already guessed when I saw her. We'll talk later, let's just get out of here."

She then whispers to him "I'm sorry for not telling you." She then scoops Tali up in her arms and they all head inside.

While Ziva gets the packing up done Tony makes the call to Callum who then brings the car round closer to the house. Once the packing up is done the two men then get the bags taken down and put in the trunk. Ziva then carries Tali out to the car and they get in. Not long after they've driven away from the house and have got a little distance away. They hear an explosion and turn round to see that the house is in flames. Despite his anger over Tali still bubbling under the surface, Tony still reaches behind him as best he can, to take Ziva's hand and gives it a little squeeze.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Hi, yes we're finally back again with the next instalment! First of all let us apologize for the long delay. First of all we had a bit of a struggle with the confrontation and ended up doing it three times before it finally felt right. Then we were having problems getting it copied up on FFN, as bits kept disappearing and having to write it again. Anyway rather than doing this from a tablet as we have been doing for a birthday a couple of days ago or so we got a new laptop. So we scrapped everything and have rewritten it out on here again, which has been so much easier! Anyway I promise that we're now back with this again and updates will now be done a lot quicker! So anyway I really hope you enjoy the update and that it's not too long for you. D &M.**_

 _ **Second Time Love**_

 _ **Chapter 2.**_

 _ **Confrontations and looking to the future.**_

Everything ended up becoming a complete blur as all of them returned to Mossad headquarters. Because as soon as they got inside the door Orli was there telling them that the explosion at the farmhouse had made the news. So while Ziva and Tali were taken off in one direction. Tony went off with Orli in the other direction so that he could make an MTAC report to let everyone in DC know that they were all safe. When Vance said that as yet they'd not made any plans about getting them back to DC again yet. Tony said to him that it would be himself, Ziva and her child coming back. Even though he'd also been so careful of not giving away Tali's age. He had a feeling that the look on his face may have given something 99. Because just as they were ending things and Gibbs having been there with Vance he said "Call me if you need to talk Tony." To which Tony just nodded at him in reply as they all disappeared from the screen.

Once that had been done Orli took Tony to where Ziva and Tali had been put. Because of sensing the tension in the room Orli took Tali out of the way so 9that the two of them could talk. First of all Ziva broke the ice by saying "So what's happening and where are we going?"

Tony answered "Vance doesn't know yet. But it does look like we're going to be going back to DC again."

Eventually the two of them grow into an uneasy silence before finally Tony grips the bridge of his nose with his thumb and finger. As he lets out a big sigh and says quietly "Why didn't you tell me that you were pregnant or that you'd had my daughter Ziva?"

She replies "I did really want to tell you. But I knew that if I did you would have come back here again and tried to get me to return to DC again and I still wasn't ready for that again. Or that you would have come back and then ended up giving up the badge and I didn't want you to give up a job that you loved."

He huffs out a breath and says "Well with the way this year has gone I could have quite easily walked away and done it happily." He then scrubs his hands over his face and adds "You know me and dad had this situation a couple of months ago. This homeless woman thought that dad was also her dad. During the stuff that was going on with her he said something along the lines of me not knowing how it feels like to have a daughter somewhere out there that you don't know about. He never elaborated on it. But it made me curious as to the possibility of having a sister somewhere possibly that I don't know about. And that she doesn't know about me or her father either. But now I do know what he meant and possibly how he feels if it is true what he said. Because I have had a daughter out here that I've known nothing about. I've also missed out on every special moment of your pregnancy, as well as her birth. And every other special moment like her first words and her first steps. I loved you Ziva and would've been by your side no matter how we would have worked it out. You know I did try to move on and did find someone new. We split up at Christmas because she knew that I was holding things back from her. I was because I have never given up loving you and I just couldn't move on. I will always love you and I will always protect you and my daughter Ziva. But I just don't know if I will be able to forgive you for not telling me the truth."

He then storms off out of the room. As Ziva goes to follow Orli comes back with Tali who has been asking for her Ima. Orli takes her arm gently to stop her from following and says "Leave him be, he can't go anywhere. He's angry, hurt and upset. Which I'm not surprised about after hearing about what's been going on from Vance. Now there's finding out about you and Tali on top of it all. He'll come round but you need to give him time. I did try to warn you Ziva if he had ever had the chance of finding out the truth about what happened. Just give him time and let him get to know Tali you may find it helps. Also be thankful that he got out here in time and got you out of there. Things could have been so very different. I could have been travelling to DC now to tell them that you were dead along with the daughter that he never even knew anything about. Or that there may have been a way that she had somehow survived. And I would have been giving him the daughter he didn't know about. To now bring up on his own."

Ziva replies "I know that it could have been a lot worse. And with all this bringing us back together again I wish that I had told him, and he has missed out on so much. But now I doubt that I can even repair some of it. Because I should think that most of the things I could have shown or given to him have now been destroyed by the fire."

Orli says gently "Well it's lucky that you also gave me copies of some things isn't it? I've sent a team out there to check it out and find out what the damage is. But you know that you may have to end up pulling things down."

Ziva replies "I'll think about things once we know where we're headed to and of course what if anything happens with us. What's gone on in DC? As he was just saying that he could have happily walked away from the badge."

Orli answers "I think it's best that I let him tell you everything. But let's just say that you remember I told you about the group called the Calling?"

"Yes?"

Orli carries on "NCIS were after them and Gibbs was injured. Since then let's just say that things between he and Gibbs have been very rocky. Director Vance even let slip that just before Tony came out here he offered him the chance of a new job."

Ziva says with some surprise "Things have got that bad?"

Orli replies "They have and Vance also said that he's been waiting tenterhooks to either get a call from Tony saying he's not coming in. And then a letter of resignation appearing shortly after he disappears somewhere without telling anyone where."

Ziva then asks "So what's happening until a decision has been made about where we're headed to?"

Orli answers "You three are going to come home with me and I've added a few more people in for security detail. For now you just stay here with Tali and I'll go and find where Tony is."

 **STL STL STL STL STL STL STL STL**

When Orli finds Tony he's standing at the railing where they had talked a couple of years before as he set off on the search for Ziva. As he's miles away deep in thought looking out of the windows down onto the square down below. As he's thinking about all his memories with Ziva, both the good and the bad. From when Ziva laid him out on that very square and the pain it caused on top of what he was feeling. Following the Rivkin affair and his subsequent death. To her remaining in Israel following it all and them going to rescue her from Saleem's camp. To the recent present where on that very spot he was standing in, where Orli had given him Ziva's necklace and sent him off alone to find Ziva. Leading him after months of searching to find her in that very farmhouse that he guessed was probably now no more. Moving on to those wonderful few days together there as the two of them finally admitted to how they felt about each other and celebrated it. Along with how he tried to persuade her to return home to DC with him. Even though they had gone onto make love quite a few times in those few days. The very first time was the most special and he found that he'd like to hope that Tali had been conceived after that very first time to.

With being so far away in his thoughts he was just sensing that someone was behind him as Orli cleared her throat to alert him or her presence. So he turned to her and just said a quiet "Hey." She then joined him standing at the railing and gently placed a hand on top of his. She then did a slight smile and said "I'm not going to ask you how you're feeling. As I know that I will only get the I'm fine response out of you."

He does a wry smile and replies "Ziva told you?"

She answers "She did. And did speak quite often of you as we became friends. You know she never stopped loving you and had so many regrets about not coming home with you."

He sighs and says "I know and I had so many about not trying harder to persuade her to come back with me. I just can't get my head round her having my daughter and not telling me about it. I do still love her so much. I just don't know if I can forgive her for not telling me."

Orli replies "When she found out she was pregnant it wasn't long after we'd taken our first steps into our new friendship. She was still coming out of things and had come a long way. When she found out about the pregnancy it sent her back a few steps. Some of it was because she never dreamed that she would be a mother. But she was also bought back to a couple of years ago and Dr Bashan saying what she did over Ari. Mostly because of seeing her after going to hospital for her first check up. As well as of course thinking about you and that you would either give up the badge. Or that you would come out here again to persuade her to return to DC and she wasn't ready for that to happen yet. She does still love you very much, but it just got harder and harder to tell you the more that time went on. Then it got even harder after Tali was born. Even so she still made sure that she told Tali all about you from day one and that was why Tali recognized you from the moment that she saw you. Look I know this isn't quite the same. But you know full well what kind of man that Eli David was. And I know that you most probably know about the affair that we had which broke up Ziva's parents' marriage. Years before that me and Eli were undercover as a couple and we slept together without protection. A few months later I was pregnant. I never told him about it because I sadly miscarried before I could tell him about it. Things became though. Because during the operation after the miscarriage it went wrong and left me unable to have children. Not long after that I found out about Ari being his son and I found it very hard to accept it. Especially as it dredged up memories of something I wouldn't ever have." She then goes into her pocket and brings out what looks like a photo she then adds "I know that this isn't the same as actually being there, but this is Tali's first scan picture. Ziva gave me copies of photos and things. Which given the circumstances I'm glad that she did it. Because things aren't looking good out there. I know that she's lost a lot of memories out there. But she has also lost a lot of baby stuff that she could have shared with you. I will ensure that you do get copies of everything I've got. Just take things slowly and be there for Tall. You never know everything else may just fall into place."

He replies "I'll try. But it's just so hard with having everything going through my head. Especially knowing that if I hadn't worked things out you could've been coming to tell me the news that one or both of them had been killed or that only one of them were gone. Not only that I could also have been facing the possibility that I could now be bringing up Tali on my own. Or that I could have just got here to any of that news."

Orli replies "Just take things one step at a time. I know that it's hard and I know that you've also got so much going on in your head because of what's going on in DC as director Vance told me about it. Look when all of this is over and we're now also helping with trying to track Kort. Take some leave and take that family of yours away somewhere to get to know them all over again. You never know it might make things easier for you to make a decision about what you want to do about everything else."

He answers "I'll consider it Orli and thank you." Just leaving him alone she then says "Come along when you're ready to. All of you are coming home with me for tonight."

For the journey to Orli's Tony is unusually quiet, but he does sit with Ziva having Tali sitting in the middle of them. As he stares out of the window watching the world go by deep in his thoughts. He all of a sudden feels a little hand touch his. So he takes Tali's little hand in his as he looks down and smiles at her and she returns the smile to him. It then all of a sudden hits him that this little girl has already won his heart. He also has a feeling that it probably won't be long before she's twisting him round her little finger.

That night Tony still remains quiet other than when he ends up on the floor playing with Tali. When Ziva goes into the lounge and tells Tali that it's time for her to come and eat. Tali sticks her bottom lip out in a sulk. As Tony stands up and picks Tali up, he says quietly "Can I do it?" As Ziva nods and he follows her into the kitchen he says to Tali "its ok as daddy will feed you." To which Tali looks at him and retaliates with "No Abba." So he then says "Ok Abba will do it." As he notices the way that Ziva is smiling at him, he says with a grin "What? It's just going to take me a while to get used to it, and even then I'm probably still going to end up slipping up." She touches his arm and smiles.

Of course by the time Tony had fed Tali it ends up being a case of who is covered the most in the food mess. Tony gets washed up and changed first, while Ziva gives Tali her bath. After taking his dirty stuff down to Orli as she told him that she'd get it washed for him. He then heads back to the bathroom to watch Ziva with Tali. As Ziva gets her into her PJ'S and says about having a story before bed, Tali points at Tony and says "Abba do it." She then takes his hand and takes him to her room which has always been hers whenever she and Ziva stayed there. After getting a book out of the bookcase and giving it to him she then asks for Calev. Because of not knowing who or what Calev is he calls out to Ziva "Who's Calev?" She then calls back from the bathroom "It's her favourite dog and he's on her bed." He then sees the cuddly toy and calls back "Thank you!" As he picks it up he says to Tali "Is this Calev?" She nods 'yes.' He then picks her up and sits in the rocking chair as she cuddles into him with Calev in her arms. As he then reads the book to her.

By the time Ziva comes out of the bathroom after getting cleared up from Tali's bath. Because of everything having gone quiet she goes to the bedroom to check on the two of them. As she walks in she can't help the smile that appears on her face at the vision in front of her. As Tali is curled up on her father fast asleep and no doubt the days events as well as the jet lag having caught up with him, because he is fast asleep as well. But she also loves the way he has his arms protectively round his daughter. She then leans down and kisses Tali lightly on her head. Then even though she knows that he will most probably be moaning about his back when he wakes up, she can't bear to wake him up. So she picks up a blanket from the bed and covers the two of them over. After doing that she then watches the two of them sleeping for a few minutes. As she watches Tony she finds herself wishing that she could help him with everything that's troubling him because of the way he's looking so peaceful in his sleep and all of the worry lines that he had on his face have begun to fade. As she leaves the two of them alone she can't resist not placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. He does stir slightly but soon settles once again.

When he finally wakes up a bit later on to look down and sees Tali fast asleep with her thumb in her mouth. He smiles and he knows that he is very much in love with his daughter. As he gets up and then gently puts her down in her bed, she does stir slightly and has a little grizzle but is soon asleep again. He then kisses her on the forehead and as he comes up from bending over to do it, because of the way his back pops and cracks he does a quiet moan. He then goes off to find where Orli and Ziva are and then finds them in the kitchen. Of course it then makes the two of them laugh that as soon as he appears in the doorway his stomach does a very loud rumble. Although because of the way that he's still looking so tired despite having the sleep. Orli tells him that he should sit down before he falls down. She then gets him some food and as he eats Orli talks about them having to possibly go back to DC again. She asks Ziva if she's ready for it. As Ziva replies "I think I am ready to make that connection again. But I do think that Tali will come as a surprise to everyone." Because of noticing a slight look of fear pass in her eyes. To Tony reaches for her hand and gives it a squeeze as he says with a slight smile "I have a feeling that us both being parents to Tali might come as a shock to them all, but they'll just have to get used to it. Just remember though that we'll need earplugs for her ears when she meets Abby. As no doubt she'll be bouncing off the walls when she hears the news. I'm just thankful there was no rule 12 in play so we don't get that lecture." Because of sensing the bitterness in his voice as he says it, she squeezes his hand and looks at him with a look of 'you can talk to me when you're ready.'

She then says to him "What are you going to say to your dad?"

He answers "I don't know. It just doesn't feel the right thing to do with calling him and saying 'Hi dad you're a grandfather!' But then it doesn't feel right either with us just turning up and saying to him 'dad this is your granddaughter.' I know that I am going to have to call him eventually as he has been calling me. Either way I know that he will love Tali very much. You know that things have been a lot better between us. He got engaged to my godmother not long after you left. She ended up finding someone a lot richer and went off with them. Dad ended up having a mope at mine about it and then somehow ended up helping us out with a case. He then went off on one of his trips and found out that most of his old contacts have now retired to spend more time with their families and grandchildren. So he then decided that he wanted to move to DC. The case that I mentioned earlier also bought up some difficult things up. But hearing the way that he talked to that woman in hospital, shortly before she passed away and he didn't know I was listening to him. But it did seem to heal a few things to."

Orli says "I know that I don't know your father Tony. But you should give him the heads up. I think it will come more as a shock to him if you just turn up with Tali in tow."

Ziva then adds "And I have a feeling that she will certainly use the DiNozzo charm on him and will have him tied round her little finger."

They then both chuckle at each other as he automatically corrects her by saying "It's twisted Ziva."

As she puzzles it out she then says "Oh. Well anyway she does certainly have the DiNozzo charm and it's come out more and more as she has got older."

He replies with a smile "I can tell as I love her so much already." They then fall into a comfortable silence as he continues to eat his food.

In the end later on Tony does decide to take the bull by its horns and while Orli and Ziva are doing the clearing up, he heads outside onto the patio and calls Senior to tell him the news about Tali as well as of course letting him know that all of them are safe. As they talk Senior admits that for a very long time now he has known that Tony was very much in love with Ziva. Even when he was with Zoe he could tell he didn't have any feelings for her. Especially as they were approaching the end of things and the way things got worse just before the split as he returned from the Sudan. He'd guessed that it had something to do with the woman that he'd gone there with and even though he hadn't talked about it he knew that he'd got so much more on his mind. When Tony says about not knowing if he can forgive Ziva for not telling him about the pregnancy and Tali. As Senior then asks him "Do you love her truly Tony?" Somehow he senses that even though the patio doors are closed he knows that Ziva is watching him. So he turns and leans against the wall behind him and replies with a big smile on his face "Yes I do still love her very much dad." He's then slightly shocked when Senior then tells him to get his head out of his ass and be with his family. Because in time he will find that the forgiveness will come, but he can't let it get in the way of the love that they have for one another. Senior then adds "Grab this chance with both hands. It's a second chance for you Junior. And you don't know how many times I've wished that could have happened in my life. There's nothing more than I would love to see the two of you happy together with my granddaughter." After Tony ends the call Ziva slowly slides the patio doors open, she then comes out and puts the drink she was bringing out for him on the coffee table. As she goes over to him, he envelopes her in a hug and kisses the top of her head, drinking in that old familiar scent of her that he has always loved. After letting go of each other they then take hands and walk over to the sofa to sit cuddled up together. As she says "Is he ok with being a grandfather?"

He answers "He's fine and is looking forward to meeting her as well as being able to see you again."

She says "I'm also guessing that he gave you a lecture. I can see those wheels turning."

He replies "He did. He told me that he knew things weren't right with me and Zoe."

She says "The woman that you were seeing?"

He nods with his reply "Mmm. We originally met years ago when I was in Philly and were both cops. After I left she did to and became an ATF agent. We had our reunion when she laid McGee out as he was pretending to be a terrorist on a case. She did change me in some ways, but I think I always knew that my heart belonged to someone else."

She asks "How did she change you?"

He answers "I chickened out of things when she first sprung on me the whole meet the parents' thing. But I did then do it later on. Even so I knew that things were starting to get difficult between us and knew it was coming to an end. But then the past came back and well and truly smacked me in the face." He then pauses to have a mouthful of drink before he carries on as he pinches the bridge of his nose "We got called in by Stan Burley. He'd split from the fiancé he had on the last case you had with him. And he'd moved on to fall in love with a doctor. She'd sent out an emergency call to him. He'd gone to investigate the area where they'd been volunteering in and he'd found a blood bath there. As well as sadly her body. We eventually discovered that there were two doctors that had gone missing as well. When we went to see the head doctor of the organization that sent the volunteer group out there. Would you believe that it turned out to be Jeanne Benoit that was in charge of it?"

As she lightly touches his leg she asks "No, what happened?"

He answers "Me and McGee went to the Sudan with her in tow because it was her husband and another doctor that had worked on Gibbs awhile back when he got hurt that had been kidnapped by a warring village group and their leader had been hurt." As he pauses she says "They kidnapped them thinking they could heal him?"

He says"Yep. In the end we rescued them and got them home safely. Just as me and Jeanne had seemed to have reached an understanding of the past between us. Another case came up recently. Gibbs got me to go back to her and ask for her help. Which I didn't really want to do, but I did end up doing it. It was because arms' dealing was involved. Like an idiot I went and promised her that it had nothing to do with her father. Just as she walked in with her husband what went and came up on the plasma? A picture of her father. It turned out that his old driver was involved in it all. Things also became really awkward with her husband, who did also know about our past. As they'd something about us having dinner with McGee as well as a thank you for rescuing him, not that I would've gone anyway. But with his veiled threats when we ended up being alone together made me want to go even less. By the end of it all things are still better than they were. But I think that I'm happier with not ever seeing her again. Even so it just seemed to highlight everything that was wrong with me and Zoe, so we finally ended it. Not been with anyone since, not even a one night stand."

As they fall into a silence she eventually says "What else is there Tony. I know that you are not happy. You know that whatever happens between us now I will always be here for you?"

He replies "There's a lot."

She cups his cheek and says "If it takes all night, it takes all night."

He replies "Ok. Well not long after you left we lost Jackson."

She says with some slight shock in her voice "He had a stroke and passed away. On top of that the group that were behind everything when you left got together with someone very familiar. We'd caught the leader of the Brotherhood of Doubt months before. That leader had also blown up an awards gala that McGee and Delilah had gone to because she was receiving an award. McGee was ok, but it left Delilah paralysed. Because of it being Gibbs that had killed the leader the remainder of the group went and teamed up with Alejandro Rivera of all people. So they took a hit out on Gibbs. I think that's when everything started to get difficult between the two of us. Because of him being involved with trying to get Jackson's funeral sorted out, so the director ordered me not to tell him what was going on. Of course in the end after finding out about Rivera's involvement I had to tell him the truth. So he came back and told Vance to not ever order us to keep him out of things again. We then of course got everything sorted out and he got all the people that were after him in time for the funeral. I'm also not sure how to put this. But we also lost Diane Stirling Gibbs Fornell. Before that she'd bought in ex-wife number two Rebecca in so we finally got to see her. For a few months we'd been after a terrorist called Sergey Mishnev. He'd first been after Gibbs and McGee when they went out to Russia to rescue IT Kevin. Sergey had tried to get him involved with something he wanted doing for him and Kevin then tried to back out of it, but only after he'd already built this computer virus. So because of that Kevin is now in prison. The case we were working on when Diane confronted Gibbs with Rebecca somehow seemed familiar and later on we found out that it was because it was staged to look like Jen's crime scene when she was killed. Mishnev then set things up to get Diane up on a rooftop with Gibbs and he then killed her just like Kate. There may have been a chance that Mishnev could have been Ari's half brother which was why he came after us and Gibbs.

"I am so sorry Tony. Did you get him?"

He answers "Gibbs allowed Fornell to do it."

"Who else is there?"

"We also lost Dornie."

She says with surprise and shock "No, not Ned?"

He replies "Yep. We were hunting a group called the calling."

She says" I heard about them because Mossad were put on alert about them and so Orli told me."

"Well he and McGee went off to an international conference in Egypt about them at a hotel. One of the group's leaders got caught in France and was being bought back to the US and McGee left there to go and interview him on the ship. Meanwhile we had already discovered their plan to use bouncing Betty bombs and McGee then discovered their plan was to use them at the conference. Because they knew about the meeting. Dornie helped to get people evacuated from the place and died a hero because of the people he did get out of there. Dornie's mom works for the CIA. So she then joined us in the hunt for the Calling's leader Daniel Budd. Gibbs had also taken in this kid called Luke who they were trying to recruit and they had already killed his parents. The calling managed to track him and get him back and we then tracked him back to Iraq. So myself, Joanne and Gibbs all headed out there. We were in this square when all of a sudden some kids crowded Joanne to keep her out of the way. I knew it was a distraction Ziva, but Budd got me on the phone and kept me talking. Luke the kid that Gibbs had taken in then shot him in the leg and chest. We got Gibbs onto a hospital ship and went into emergency surgery. I wanted to stay and remain by his side, but then Vance ordered me and Joanne to get after Budd. We eventually caught up with him in Shanghai after months of chasing him. I caught him and he went for his gun, so I had an excuse to shoot him. But when we got home again Gibbs was acting funny with me and I have a feeling that he probably wanted to be the one that got him. In the next case he then benched me and left me at the office while Bishop, your replacement and McGee did all the running about. The man whose case we were helping with was the son of the man who was shot in the accident that killed Shannon and Kelly. I only realized as I was going through the files that Gibbs had left me with to go through. Each time I tried to talk to him about it, he just kept telling me that I had to look after my team. Then after the case was finished I went round to his. Because since the shooting Gibbs has got out of the polo shits and all the old clothes and has started wearing really nice suits instead. He also got rid of the marine cut for a while, but that has come back again now. Anyway he was going to be doing this trip to LA and so I went round to give him an old suit bag of mine. As we sort of talked he asked me if I wanted to lead my own team. Ever since then it's just felt like he's trying to get rid of me and just trying to keep me shut out. You know me normally with what happened with Jeanne I would've gone round there to talk. Not only that when she first came back, other than Bishop who didn't know about Jeanne. All the others kept saying Jeanne Bennoit really! Including him doing it. To just seemingly throw it all back in my face. Other than when I took the suit bag round to him I did end up staying the night with him. As we ended up having a sleep over with him, me, McGee and Bishop. Because first of all a bad snow storm took out McGee's heating, then it was mine that went and then finally Bishop's went. But other than that I've just stayed away from him other than being at work."

As he gets to the end of it all because of all the emotions she can see running through him, she hugs him and says "I'm so sorry Tony." As he hugs her back drinking in her scent and they eventually break apart but he keeps hold of her hand he swallows and says "I know that we've got a long way to go with all of this. But I love you Ziva and I want us now to bring up our daughter together. Will you do me a favour?"

She asks "What is it?"

He answers "Once all of this is over. I want to have a really serious think about Vance's proposal. Along with the possibility of giving up the badge completely. So I was thinking that I want to take some leave and just go away to get away from it all. Then I can just get some peace and quiet to really make up my mind about what to do. Come away with me so that we can start being a family?"

She cups his face and answers "I love you to Tony and yes I will come away with you." As she then goes in for a very tentative kiss, it starts to become more than that as he responds to it. When they break apart it seems like the talk has helped him to let go of some of the stress that he's been carrying round with him. As she can see him become visibly more relaxed than he was as well as the worry disappear from his face. Although it does then leave the rest of the tiredness from the jet lag and the days events catch up with him again, as he does a jaw cracking yawn. As Ziva cuddles into him he apologizes for it and she says "Don't worry, you are tired and need to sleep." She then unfolds herself from him and gets up. As she then pulls him up and they go back into the house again he says "I don't want anything else, but please just sleep with me?"

She says with a smile "I will. But just be prepared to end up with an extra person with us, because sometimes during the night. Tali does get out of bed and joins me. So I end up waking to bony elbows sticking in me."

He replies "I'll remember. But I'm also looking forward to it. And of course now getting to enjoy more moments with my family."

As the two of them finally flop into bed together, they share another kiss before getting cuddled up together. As Tony falls asleep he does finally feel very much at home.


End file.
